Families are a bitch.

This independent, B&W, DV feature consistently shocks, amazes and amuses us with it's ability to create the most fucked up situations and then find humor and interest in them. The film centers on a group of people, 3 brothers and 2 sisters, so dysfunctional that in reality they would be rendered unable to survive. Here, with the script and direction of Roger Majkowski, they become some of the most dynamic and hilarious and unique characters to grace the screen.

Majkowski himself takes the lead role here. As Leon, the middle child of three brothers, he is perhaps the most well- adjusted member of the ensemble. An asshole to be sure, Leon also talks to God and wonders why God does not respond. As a 30 year-old paperboy living with his mother, he definitely has issues. But he is the only person here, besides his corresponding female counterpart, who seems to be able to focus and think coherently and realistically. Leon spends some time early in the film trying to deal with his overbearing mother and his paint-huffing younger brother, Needles (Majkowski's real life brother Thomas), a junkie moron. Needles, however, is a pretty nice, albeit dumb, kid, so we grow to like him.

Soon, however, plot evolves and Leon is having to deal with his insane, somewhat evangelical older brother Gary (Tom Ellis). This sibling is one of those idiots who refuses to see the light, a maladjusted ignoramus who thinks he has a handle on everything under the sun. Gary also lives with his "wife," a man in a dress named Roz (Jed O. Zion).

Soon the dysfunctional brothers set out on an adventure that has them meeting up with 2 sisters, Shelia (Orlagh Cassidy), a counterpart to Leon, and Meredith (Elizabeth Van Meter), a beautiful Tourettes sufferer who smokes crack to help keep her condition in check. These 5 characters spend the majority of the movie together, trying to sort out a mystery and, in effect, their lives. It's all hilarious and ridiculous stuff. Yet as absurd as much of the film should be, there is a heart and a reality here that keeps the film grounded, keeps the entire piece from drifting into complete craziness.

And therein lies the real message here. This is about how we all survive in a world gone mad. That seems to be the heart of the film. For as insane and off the wall as things get here, Leon always tries to keep it together. He is always trying to tether the insanity and make it all work out, for him and everyone involved. Yet things just seem to continually float just out of his reach. He's like a child forever trying to catch the balloon that is floating away so that everything will work out for the best, so that everyone can have what they want.

The acting in the film could have went far over the top but the exceptional cast really keeps the piece cohesive. Van Meter is perhaps the best of the bunch here with a performance that shines through her absurd diseased tics. Just as the characters in the film do, we overlook her sudden outbursts to see the real person underneath. Needless to say, the upheaval is hilarious and often very crude. But Van Meter has a real charm and her doe eyes keep her character in our hearts. When wastoid Needles falls for her, we see that they are a perfect couple. Their relationship gives us something to root for. Thomas Majkowski, as Needles, is a real treat to watch too. His quiet and confused young man could have been morose, whiney and/or typical. A movie of the week victim. The younger Majkowski keeps him real and involving.

Meanwhile, Ellis is a real find as Gary. He's a great actor. He has the ability to recite his character's bullshit through the insanity going on around him and keep us tuned into his story. Gary is such a unique and interesting character that he becomes almost a grounding effect as well, even though he is completely insane. It's a wonderful and odd twist that Gary sometimes seems the voice of reason only because his character, who is out of his mind, thinks he is the voice of reason. It's another marvelous effect that keeps the film balanced and helps it avoid preposterousness. Again, like everyone here, his performance could have been over-the-top and ridiculous, ruining the feel of the film. But Ellis keeps Gary just this side of complete insanity and therefore gives him depth and reality that his character desperately needs to work. It's quite nice.

Director Majkowski and Cassidy also infuse their characters with an underdog realism. These two have been hurt by life and seem to be continually struggling just to keep their heads above water. If they could see themselves from our vantage point just for one second, they would surely give up and drown. But like true heroes, like real people, they continue to swim against the tide and try desperately to work everything out. These are well rounded and fully dimensional characters that keep us involved.

Majkowski is a true genius here. He takes the utmost ridiculous plot twists and keeps them real. It is his script and his cast that help keep the whole thing afloat. At first, it is not easy to like the film. Within the first ten minutes, Majkowski splays out a repulsive suicide scene, a fat unruly mother, paint huffing, verbose venomous anger, and a vomit scene. Majkowski sets us up for anything and then delivers it. But as the film progresses and the characters emerge and become rounded, it is easy to like the film and be captivated by the story and characters. It's a true testament to the skill of Majkowski and all involved that this film, with it's grating plot and characters, never once works our nerves. Majkowski has taken a film that could have been abrasive and repugnant, and somehow given it heart and humor. This is a unique film. Not to be missed.

Majkowski's work behind the camera is awesome as well. Many of the scenes are filmed in subtle angles that give the piece this sort of quiet desperation. It feels as if everything could go out of whack at any minute, thereby punctuating the feel of the script and the desperation of the characters. This is a film about standing on the edge and almost losing your balance. It's about the true nature of existing in a world gone mad and trying desperately to hold on to any sanity one can clutch. It's about the insanity of family and how desperate and dysfunctional they can be. Even as absurd as it gets, that is what makes it so easy to relate to. As crazy and whacked out as the characters are, we are related to someone just like them.

Families are a bitch. Majkowski sees the beauty and the humor and the angst and the joy and the heart in that. And so does his film.

Note:

Also with Anita Keal, Janet Sarno and Munro Gabler.

Music by Peter Lopez with pop songs by Shonen Knife and Expose.

In B&W DV - with the final scene in color.

An homage to John Waters' ending of "Pink Flamingos" is included.

Rehearsed profusely, the film was shot on a borrowed mini DV in just 12 days in Majkowski's mother's and brother's houses. The budget was about $3,500.

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